By AMANDA VINCENT
Ty Majeski closed the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular season with two-consecutive wins, the second on Saturday night in the Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. It also was his second, overall, win of the season, so far.
VIDEO: Ty Majeski’s post-race press conference
“Duke and Rhoda Thorson (truck owners) gave me a huge opportunity two years ago, and I’ve had the time of my life racing for this team,” Majeski said. “We’re going to try to bring another trophy back home.”
Christian Eckes finished second and cemented the regular-season championship over Corey Heim. Eckes headed into the race with a 50-point cushion on Corey Heim, who finished 16th in Saturday night’s race.
Taylor Gray finished third at Richmond, and Grant Endinger and Layne Riggs rounded out the top-five.
Three playoff positions were up for grabs heading into the race. Those spots were claimed by drivers who finished in the top-10 in the Cleam Harbors 250, including Gray. Reigning Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes took a playoff berth with a seventh-place race finish, and Daniel Dye made the playoffs after finishing eighth Saturday night. They joined seven drivers who claimed playoff berths ahead of the regular-season finale — Eckes, Heim, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, Majeski, Enfinger and Tyler Ankrum.
Meanwhile, two-time series champion Matt Crafton missed the playoffs for the first time in his career after finishing 15th in Richmond.
Majeski took the lead for the final time in the 250-lap race on a 231-lap restart following a 224-lap caution for a Kaden Honeycutt spin. Majeski restarted third. William Sawalich restarted as the leader after a two-tire pit stop. Enfinger restarted second.
Enfinger led a race-high 98 laps. He lost the lead to Heim on lap 221.
Heim was among six drivers who pitted and took their last sets of tires during a lap-182 caution for Conner Jones. Heim restarted 17th but quickly moved toward the front to take second on lap 197.
Out of new tires, Heim took a set of scuffs during the Honeycutt caution and lost positions to trucks on new tires in the remaining laps.
Pole sitter Eckes won stage one at lap 70. The stage points from the win clinched his regular-season title.
Gray was second at the end of the first stage.
Eckes lost the lead to fellow front-row starter Majeski on lap 13. When the yellow flag waved for the first time on on lap 56 for a Matt Mills crash, Majeski, Ankrum and Connor Zilisch stayed out. Everyone else pitted, and with new tires, Eckes retook the lead on the restart.
Majeski fell to the back of the top-20 by stage-end. When he pitted after the stage, he was hit with an uncontrolled tire penalty.
“Found different ways to lose them, and we tried to do it again tonight,” Majeski said. “Another mistake; we really need to clean that stuff up before playoff time.”
Enfinger notched his first win of the season by taking the second stage at lap 140. Eckes was second.
Enfinger took the lead from Eckes on lap 116 and, then, lost it to Gray on lap 126.
Ty Dillon, Stewart Friesen and Bayley Currey stayed out during a lap-128 caution for Crafton. Enfinger was fourth for the restart, best among drivers with new tires.
Enfinger took the lead on the lap-135 restart, and Eckes moved into second.
The yellow flag waved nine times in the Clean Harbors 250 with five cautions coming in the final 100 laps. Additional cautions included one on lap 150 when Dean Thompson spun as a result of contact with Ty Dillon. Mason Massey, Thad Moffitt and Keith McGee were collected in the incident.
A Lawless Alan spin from contact with Currey brought out a caution on lap 168. A Zilisch spin after contact from Bret Holmes sent the race into its final caution on lap 237.
Other top-10 finishers at Richmond included Ankrum in sixth and Dillon in ninth. Connor Hall finished 10th in his Truck Series debut.
